List of earthquakes in Peru
Earthquakes in Peru are common occurrences as the country is located in a seismic zone. The interface between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates is located near the Peruvian coast. The South American Plate is moving over the Nazca Plate at a rate of 77 mm (3.0 in) per year.[1] Thus, earthquakes occur as thrust faulting on the interface between the two plates, with the South American Plate moving towards the sea over the Nazca Plate. The same process has caused the rise of the Andes mountain range and the creation of the Peru–Chile Trench as well as volcanism in the Peruvian highlands.
Geology of Peru
The oldest rocks in Peru date to the Precambrian and are more than two billion years old. Along the southern coast, granulite and charnockite shows reworking by an ancient orogeny mountain building event. Situated close to the Peru-Chile Trench, these rocks have anomalously high strontium isotope ratios, which suggest recent calc-alkaline volcanism.
In the Eastern Cordillera of Peru, Precambrian magmatism in the Huanaco region produced ultramafic, mafic and felsic rocks, including serpentinite, meta-diorite, meta-gabbro, meta-tonalite and diorite and granite that intruded after the first phase of orogenic tectonic activity.
The Grenville orogeny had a major impact in Peru. The basement of the Central Andean orogeny includes the rocks of the Arequipa Massif, which reach granulite grade on the sequence of metamorphic facies and formed around 1.9 billion years ago. Zircon grains in these rocks match those in Labrador, Greenland and Scotland, indicating that much of western South America originated as a promontory of the proto-North American continent Laurentia
Earthquakes
Notable earthquakes in Peruvian history include the following:
| Date | Location | Mag. | MMI | Deaths | Injures | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-05-26 | Loreto | 8.0 Mw | VIII | 2 | 30 | Moderate damage | [2] |
| 2019-03-01 | Puno | 7.0 Mw | VI | 1 | 2 | [3] | |
| 2018-01-14 | Arequipa | 7.1 Mw | VII | 2 | 139 | [4] | |
| 2016-08-15 | Arequipa | 5.5 Mw | 5 | ||||
| 2014-09-27 | Cusco | 5.0 Mw | VII | 8 | 60 homes damaged | ||
| 2011-10-18 | Huancavelica | 6.9 Mw | VII | 1 | [5] | ||
| 2007-08-15 | Ica | 8.0 Mw | VIII | 519 | 1,366 | Severe damage | [6] |
| 2005-09-26 | San Martín | 7.5 Mw | VII | 5 | 60 | ||
| 2001-06-23 | Arequipa, Moquegua, Tacna | 8.4 Mw | IX | 74–145 | 2,713 | Tsunami 7 m (23 ft) | |
| 1996-11-12 | Ica | 7.7 Mw | VIII | 24 | Severe damage | [7] | |
| 1996-02-21 | Nazca | 7.4 Mw | V | 12 | Moderate damage | ||
| 1993-04-18 | Lima | 6.0 Mw | 10 | ||||
| 1991-04-04 | Loreto | 6.5 Mw | IX | 100 | Severe damage | ||
| 1990-05-29 | Amazonas | 6.8 Mw | VIII | 300 | Great damage in Moyobamba | ||
| 1986-04-06 | Cuzco | 6.1 Mw | VII | 27 | |||
| 1979-02-16 | Arequipa | 6.8 Mw | VIII | 100 | Severe damage | ||
| 1974-10-03 | Lima | 8.1 Mw | IX | 78 | 2,400 | ||
| 1970-05-31 | Ancash | 7.9 Mw | VIII | 66,794–70,000 | 50,000 | Extreme damage, Major landslide | |
| 1970-02-14 | Huanuco | 6.1 Mw | 14 | ||||
| 1969-10-01 | Junin | 6.9 Mw | 635 | Severe damage | |||
| 1966-10-17 | Lima | 8.1 Mw | IX | 100 | |||
| 1960-11-20 | Ica | 7.8 Mw | VIII | 13 | Tsunami 9 m (30 ft) | ||
| 1960-01-13 | Arequipa | 6.2 Mw | 100 | ||||
| 1958-01-15 | Arequipa | 7.0 Mw | 69 | ||||
| 1953-12-12 | Tumbes | 7.5 Mw | VIII | 7 | 20 | ||
| 1950-05-21 | Cuzco | 7.0 Mw | 1,625 | Severe damage | |||
| 1947-11-01 | Junin | 7.6 Mw | 1,242 | ||||
| 1946-11-10 | Ancash | 7.3 Mw | IX | 2,400 | |||
| 1943-01-30 | Cuzco | 6.5 Mw | 252 | ||||
| 1942-08-24 | Ica | 8.2 Mw | IX | 30 | Tsunami 1.6 m | ||
| 1940-05-24 | Lima | 8.2 Mw | 562 | Severe damage in Lima | |||
| 1937-12-24 | Pasco | 6.8 Mw | 194 | ||||
| 1928-05-14 | Chachapoyas | 7.2 Mw | X | 1,928 | |||
| 1917-05-21 | Arequipa | 6.1 Mw | 32 | ||||
| 1914-12-04 | Ayacucho | 6.7 Mw | 400 | ||||
| 1913-11-04 | Apurímac | 6.5 Mw | 253 | ||||
| 1877-05-09 | Tarapaca | 8.5 Mw | XI | 2,385 | Major Tsunami | ||
| 1868-08-13 | Arica | 8.5–9.0 Mw | XI | 25,000 | Extreme damage, Major tsunami 16 m (52 ft) | ||
| 1828-03-28 | Lima | 7.9 Ms | 162 | ||||
| 1746-10-28 | Lima, Callao | 8.6–8.8 Mw | XI | 5,941 | Major tsunami 24 m (80 ft) | ||
| 1725-01-06 | La Libertad | 7.6 Mw | 5,000 | ||||
| 1687-10-20 | Ica | 8.7 Mw | X | 5,000 | Major tsunami | ||
| 1650-05-12 | Cuzco | 7.7 Mw | 460 | ||||
| 1650-03-31 | Arica | 7.0 Ms | 5,000 | ||||
| 1619-02-14 | La Libertad | 8.6 Ms | 7,364 | ||||
| 1604-11-24 | Arica | 8.8 Mw | 1,200 | ||||
| 1586-07-09 | Lima | 8.6 Mw | 22 | ||||
| The inclusion criteria for adding events are based on WikiProject Earthquakes' notability guideline that was developed for stand alone articles. The principles described are also applicable to lists. In summary, only damaging, injurious, or deadly events should be recorded. | |||||||
See also
Sources
- Alex K. Tang, PE and Jorgen Johansson, ed. (2010). Pisco Peru Earthquake of August 15, 2007. ASCE, Technical Council on Lifeline Earthquake Engineering. ISBN 9780784410615. Archived from the original on November 14, 2012. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
- "M 8.0 - 78km SE of Lagunas, Peru". United Stated Geological Survey. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
- "M 7.0 - 23km NNE of Azangaro, Peru". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
- "M 7.1 - 38km SSW of Acari, Peru". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
- "M 6.9 - near the coast of central Peru". USGS. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
- "M 8.0 - near the coast of central Peru". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
- "M 7.7 - near the coast of central Peru". United Stated Geological Survey. Retrieved 2020-04-08.